


Schemes

by unwindmyself



Series: curious shapes shift in the dark [93]
Category: True Blood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Female Friendship, Fix-It, Gen, Plans, agency and choices!, girls protecting girls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-18
Updated: 2015-07-18
Packaged: 2018-04-09 22:53:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4367393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unwindmyself/pseuds/unwindmyself
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jessica and her royal council discuss a couple of key issues at the start of her reign.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Schemes

**Author's Note:**

> Part one, "Ticker Don't Tock."
> 
>  **Original Characters** : Vanessa Quinones.

“So, Your Highness,” Pam drawls, “there a reason you assembled your alleged cabinet tonight?”

Jessica smiles proudly.  Around the table are Tara (as her chief adviser), Pam (as her only sheriff), Amber (as the attorney on loan from the Authority), and Nicole and Vanessa (as their human allies).  They are her cabinet right now, and that’s both a weird thought and a calming one.  After all, if Bill had had a cabinet or something like it, maybe everything would have gone differently.  If Sophie-Anne had had one, maybe it would have been even more different from the start.

“Well, first off,” she says once she’s done musing, “we oughta recruit more sheriffs, yeah?  I figure you’re not keen on policing the entire state by yourself, Pam.”

“Hell no I’m not,” Pam replies, though she keeps her tone mild.  “I’m not keen on doing _any_ policing, but we all make sacrifices.”

Jessica rolls her eyes, but she just chirps, “Figured as much.  Maybe you could start recruiting?  You know more locals than the rest of us.”

“Well, Ghaliya and Asra don’t want anything to do with our little game of government,” Tara says apologetically.  “They’ve pretty much said so.”

“O-okay,” Jessica says doubtfully.  “Well, we still oughta reach out.  Friends of friends, that kinda thing.”

they all nod along.  “I could work up some kinda website,” Amber offers.  “Help wanted, that stuff.”

“That’d be good!” Jessica agrees eagerly.  “I mean, you’d have to clear it with, uh, with the chancellors, this is sorta something I’m up to on their behalf, but that’s not hard.”  Considering said chancellors are currently meeting the floor above and all.

“Not in the slightest,” Amber chirps, grinning only a little bit ironically.  “We could even use it as a template for the other forty-nine states’ recruiting.”

“Peachy,” Pam chirps.

“You guys are really still figuring this all out, huh?” Nicole asks quietly.  She and Vanessa have been exchanging increasingly curious glances.

All the vampires shrug.  “Well, our old government exploded,” Tara cracks.  “We’re doin’ the best we can.”

“Both to put it back together and to avoid future explosions,” Jessica adds.

“That’s admirable, I guess,” Vanessa agrees.  “So how do you want us to help?  We’re not tight with a bunch of vampires and, uh, we’re not from around here, strictly speaking.”

Jessica grins.  “Well, now that you ask, maybe, yeah,” she says,  “So I was thinkin’ a couple weeks ago about my sister.  My human sister, ‘cause thank goodness I was Bill the asshole’s only progeny.  We’d never been super close when I was human and lived home, we’re pretty different in age.”

“Oh, Christ,” Pam mutters.

“Kinda Jo and Amy stuff,” Jessica continues, “‘cept neither of us were tomboys or really too girly either, since our dad basically kept us so holy we lacked a real, like, aesthetic.”

“Shit, you really struck the shitty religious dad jackpot,” Amber comments.

“Actually, the shitty religious dad who threw me around jackpot,” Jessica corrects.  “I mean, Bill only did violence after he went crazy and evil, but then again, my real dad was, uh, crazy and evil to begin with, so he was pretty much doin’ violence every chance he got.  ‘Cause it was his job to discipline us and keep us from bein’ sinners or whatever.”

“Us?” Nicole asks.

“Oh, he’d beat up on me, he’d beat up on my mom, he’d beat up on Eden,” Jessica explains almost casually.  “Lecture us and keep us from doin’ anything he found wrong in the eyes of the lord or whatever, too.  Kinda no wonder I was so glad to get outta there.”

“I’ll say,” Vanessa exclaims, horrified.  “That’s fucked up shit.  Is she still…?”

“Far’s I know, yeah,” Jessica nods.  “I mean, Dad didn’t let us be on social media or anything, and I checked anyway on the off-chance she made a profile at, like, her friend’s house or somethin’, but she hadn’t, so the best I’ve got to go off is a website for inter-church youth parties where she was in a couple pictures from somethin’ they had last Easter, and it was attributed to our home church.  My dad’s church, I guess.”

“Where’re you goin’ with this, Firebrand?” Pam asks.

“So Eden’s still stuck home with my shitbag dad,” Jessica summarizes, “and like, she doesn’t know what happened to me for a whole long stupid story of a reason and probably we oughta keep it that way, but I think we should send someone in to get her the fuck out.”

“Can we do that?” Tara asks, sounding impressed by the idea.  She’s all for rescuing abused girls, it just isn’t exactly official vampire stuff to do.  Or unofficial vampire stuff, considering it probably won’t be possible to rescue a sheltered teenage church girl at night.

“Well, so that’s where you, you two,” Jessica continues, nodding at Nicole and Vanessa, “that’s where maybe you two could come in?  I was thinkin’ you could infiltrate her youth group or somethin’?”

“Infiltrate?” Pam repeats, chuckling.  “It’s not exactly black ops, Your Grace.”

“Well, is there a better word for it?” Jessica retorts.  “You could get in and like... I’m not sure what, but that’s the first step, right?”

“It is!” Nicole agrees, because suddenly they’re in territory she understands.  This is activism 101, really, the infiltration and all.  “We could get into her youth group and make friends with her.”

“Yeah!” Jessica exclaims.  “Oh, would you?  That’d be so great of you.”

“And then like, one of us could drive her home one day, and we could stick around long enough to get evidence of, of abuse,” Vanessa adds.  “Then - do you want her to come live with you, or?”

“Nah, ‘cause of the not knowing I’m a vampire and the mess I mentioned,” Jessica says.  “I just wanna get her out of that house.  Foster home, maybe?  A good one?”

Nicole and Vanessa nod.  “Sounds good,” the both say, and then they bust up laughing.

“What’s hilarious about this?” Pam asks.  “I’m fascinated.”  More so than she feels comfortable saying she is about the situation at large.

“How, uh, cool about diversity are your bio-parents?” Nicole asks Jessica.

She grimaces.  “Not the coolest,” she says.

“So I’ll do drop-off duty,” Vanessa offers.  “I at least look pretty white.”

“But little do they know,” Nicole says in an ominous voice.  “Their daughter is being befriended by a sinful bisexual Latina feminist.”

Amber raises an eyebrow at the word ‘bisexual.’

“The horror,” Tara says dryly.  “Y’all are really cool, y’know?  For wantin’ to help.”

They both shrug.  “Well, my mom’s pretty awesome,” Nicole says.

“And my parents too,” Vanessa adds.  “But it’s important to help out people whose home lives suck ass.”

“We can’t all be saved by turnin’ vampire,” Amber cracks.


End file.
